The next few hours had passed by in a blur. Asterin and Alexander had received a brief text from Lis explaining the situation and had immediately headed to join her at the hospital. Alexander had gone off to talk to the paramedics that had taken James in charge in the first place. Asterin was now currently sitting on a bench in the corridor in which James's room was while Lis was pacing in deep worry. Much to Lis' dismay, they were not allowed to get any closer.
"I understand you are restless Lis, but please sit down. All this pacing is only going to tire you and I am certain you will want to be full of energy when James wakes up," Black said patting the spot next to her on the bench. Blythe stopped abruptly in front of Asterin, in a small voice she whispered.
"That's the thing... What if he doesn't..."
Asterin sighed and got up and gently pulled down her friend to sit.
"He will wake up. That boy is not going down before seeing calling you Lizzy B or whatever silly nickname he has in store for you. Besides, you heard what the doctor said : he was brought here in time, and that is thanks to you."
She practically fell on the seat, her shoulders slouched and her head hanging down in exhaustion.
"This is all my fault... I'm the one who asked him to help. I'm the one who involved him in this. I'm the one who put a target on his back. I'm the reason that bloody psychopath got to him."
"Elisabeth Blythe, don't you dare blame yourself. In no way are you responsible for a deranged serial killer's actions. And James will tell you the same thing when he wakes up !"
"I'm just... So done with this. So done with walking into places only to found a loved one, bleeding out on the floor."
Asterin's eyes softened and for once she took her friend's hand in her own and squeezed it lightly. "James will get through this. I promise."
Slowly and in silence Lis started crying, holding Asterin's hand in her own. Asterin did not know what to say, so she said nothing. The girl awkwardly put an arm around her friend and brought her closer.
"His condition is stable, he's not awake yet and I don't think he will be until at least tomorrow. There is no reason for you three to spend the night here. Detective Blythe, I have your number, we'll call you if we have any update." Elisabeth nodded, only half in phase with what was happening. Once the doctor had left the room she turned to Thornhood. "Could you drive me back to James' apartment ? I left my bike there and I really want to go back home."
"Of course." Alexander nodded, before looking over to Asterin. "It's pretty late, do you want a ride home ?"
The woman's eyes hardened as they set on him.
"No thank you, I will take the Tube," she said dryly and turned towards Lis. She pulled out the bagels from her bag and stuffed them into her friend's hands. "You eat that. You will feel better. Text me when you get home and feel free to call me at any time of the night if you need to talk, alright ?" she said in a much softer voice.
"I...Okay. Sure. If not, I'll see you tomorrow at the precinct. If you see Benji before I do, could you ask him how the bust went ?"
Asterin nodded. "I will. Be careful on the road !" she added as she left Alexander and Lis alone.
Elisabeth felt the very strong urge to fill the overwhelming silence that washed over the car. Right now, she needed the sound of a human voice.
"Thanks for giving me a ride."
Alexander smile slightly. "It is only natural, Elisabeth. Friends help out each other." They arrived at a red light and he looked over to her. "Are you okay ? You don't have to answer if you don't want too," he added swiftly.
"I'm... Blank. I don't know. There's nothing much to say really. I was panicked, I was in shock, I was devastatingly sad. Now... I don't know I feel empty. I need to sleep and realise that everything that happened wasn't just a crazy nightmare."
"A good night of sleep will definitely help. But don't torture yourself with this, alright ? Asterin's right, everything will turn out ok." Alexander's mouth tasted bitter when he said her name but nevertheless, he offered a reassuring smile to Elisabeth.
They arrived in front of James' apartment building and Lis winced at the sight of her bike laying on its flanc. She opened the car door and before leaving she turned to him. "Yeah... Thanks. And I hope you'll be able to work things out with Asterin."
Alexander stared blankly ahead of him. "Yeah. I hope so too." He forced himself to look back at Elisabeth and smile. "Travel safely !"
"I'll try. No promises."
The next morning, Asterin was the first to arrive at the station. She spent the spare time she had to order the files of her office and drink some coffee. When Benji had arrived, she filled him in with all the latest news and took in all the details of the bust. It turned out to have no link whatsoever with the killer. Even though it closed a lead, Asterin had almost been relieved to hear that. It meant Orion was not linked with the murderer either. She would have to deal with him. He was not a suspect anymore, but he was still a drug addict. She sighed. Later, I will take care of this later.
-
Elisabeth walked into her office at a slow pace. She hadn't slept as well as she had hoped to. The bags under her eyes were darker than usual and her state was worsened by the fact that she hadn't bothered to put on make up this morning. Even her clothes, which she usually tried to keep professional, showed her lack of effort. She had thrown on an old AC/DC shirt, jeans with holes as large as her knees and her father's old brown leather jacket. She sighed and walked to the coffee machine. The taste of the brew made her wince, she regretted forgetting to make tea before coming to work...
Asterin glanced at her watch before heading to Lis' office. Her friend should have arrived by now. When Lis did not answer she got in and set a pack of cookies in front of Lis.
"Eat up." she said simply before sitting down.
"Chocolate chip cookies, my one true weakness." Elisabeth tried to make her tone joyful and joke-like but failed quite miserably. She grabbed a biscuit from the pack and forced herself to eat, purely to reassure Asterin.
Asterin did not speak until her friend had finished at least two cookies.
"How are you doing ?" she finally asked.
Blythe sighed. "Which answer do you want ? Personal or professional ?"
Asterin leaned back and crossed her arms. "Both. But the personal first."
"I feel like someone dumped a pile of s**t on my life. I want to find the a**hole who did this and make him pay. I want to hurt him the way he hurt these people. Slowly, painfully, in every way he hates. I want to watch the pain in his eyes as he begs for mercy. But I can't. Because that's not my job. My job is to bring him in alive, so that he can face judgement in court."
Asterin tilted her head. "That is understandable. They certainly deserve it. I would help you with the body, you know." She took a sip from the coffee mug she had brought in with her.
The detective huffed.
"Of course you would. But you won't need to. I worked hard enough to get where I am, I'm not about to ruin my entire career for one asshole."
Black shrugged. "As you wish." She hesitating for a second before setting her cup. "How is James ?"
"I don't know. The doctor hasn't called yet. I'm getting a tad worried to be honest."
"Hey. I do not believe there is a reason to worry. He is probably still under medication, it's normal that he is still sleeping."
"Right. Well. Until we get any news, we should check out the surveillance camera in James' street. If he scared the man away like he said he did it may have caught something and we may actually get a real lead for the first time since this whole case started."
"Excellent idea." Asterin said. "By the way, I have something to tell about the case. The drugs are not linked to the killer. They were fake clues. Although the dealers' network is real. And big. Very big"
Blythe nodded. "That's what I expected... I'll tell Benji he can send the info we gathered to the drugs department, they'll love it."
Asterin took another sip. "I bet they will."
There was a knock on the door and Alexander came in, all smiles with some fuming cardboard cups. "Hello ladies ! I bought some tea ! And coffee for you, Black."
Asterin turned her back to him and rolled her eyes. "I already had coffee, thank you."
Elizabeth pinched the bridge of her nose and bit her lip, sensing a headache coming. "For the sake of heaven above and hell under will you two talk things out before I decide the only solution left is to buy you one of those ridiculous get along t-shirts ?"
Alexander furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey, I like those shirts."
Asterin wanted to facepalm or slap him or both. But the woman settled for keeping a neutral expression and gulping down the rest of her coffee. "There is nothing to talk about other than the case." she said calmly. "Thornhood, the drugs do not link to the case. Lis, what were we saying about security footage ?"
Blythe sighed and rolled her eyes, when this whole thing was done she'd lock the two idiots in a room until they had no choice but to work things out through the power of communication. "I said : if James scared off our perp the way he said he did, he only had one exit : the street. Which means that he was definitely caught on tape by the street's surveillance cameras. And unless we really suck at our job, I think we can recognise a man running away after stabbing someone once we see it."
Asterin nodded. "Perfect. How about Thornhood and I will follow that lead while you wait for the call ?" Black absolutely hated the idea of being alone with Alexander but it was necessary for multiple reasons. After her argument with him, she realized that she had not behaved in an exemplary manner. Even if he was not actually the killer, she should have arrested Orion immediately like any other suspect and not wait for the next morning. Not to mention she most certainly should have kept her composure. And even if Alexander's comments had stung, he was right. There was no way she would get her promotion if she kept messing up. So Asterin would work the case far more seriously from now on, even if it meant working on it with Thornhood.
But those reasons were not the ones that had decided her to make that offer. She thought it was better for Lis to be free to go see James whenever the hospital called her back. And Asterin knew that even if it pained her, Lis would not abandon a task at hand, so staying here was the best option.
Blythe nodded and watched as her two colleagues left the room. It pained her to let them go to do the work while she waited around for personal reasons. It felt so wrong... She had to create an excuse to brush off the feeling. He caught a glimpse of the man, he'll give a physical description. This is no different than waiting for a witness to wake up. At least that was what she told herself. But it was. It was absolutely different. Because when a witness was attacked and rendered unconscious she didn't carelessly drop everything and drive across the city without a single care for how fast she was going, she didn't threaten a paramedic and forced him to let her in the ambulance, she didn't pace the hospital corridor while worry ate her up alive... And so she waited. A half hour passed with no news from the doctors. She tried to keep herself busy but she'd already finished all the work unrelated to the Death Angel case. She felt like a lioness trapped in a cage. When the phone finally rang, she sprang into action and reached Morningstar's hospital room in less than 15 minutes. He looked so much paler than usual... The black ink of his tattoos that were displayed by the hospital gown's short sleeves contrasted in a shocking way with the whiteness of his skin. It suddenly hit her that the day before, he had been drained of his blood almost to the point of death. His heavy breathing filled the silence of the hospital room, it was oddly comforting to see his chest move up and down at a regular rhythm. Elisabeth walked closer to him and sat down on the side of his bed.
"Hey there Morningstar."
"I thought you were calling me James now ?"
His voice was weak. But he was alive. And that was enough.